Cognitive control, stress, and depressive symptoms: A short-term longitudinal test of the Dual Mechanisms of Control framework

Abstract

Depression has been linked to impairments in cognitive control, particularly proactive control within the Dual Mechanisms of Control framework, yet little is known about how proactive control, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms co-vary within and between individuals over time. In a three-wave online study, 195 adults completed monthly assessments of depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and an AX Continuous Performance Task. Random Effects Within–Between (REWB) models were used as the primary analytic approach to examine between-person differences and within-person month-to-month deviations in perceived stress and proactive control, whereas Cross-Lagged Panel Models (CLPMs) and Random Intercept CLPMs (RI-CLPMs) were estimated as auxiliary analyses. Across reaction-time and error-rate REWB models, perceived stress showed robust positive associations with depressive symptoms at both levels. Proactive control showed no consistent effects when stress was at its mean level, but small within-person perceived stress × proactive control interactions indicated weaker concurrent stress–depression coupling during higher-than-usual stress periods. In contrast, CLPM and RI-CLPM showed poor fit and negligible cross-lagged effects. Overall, proactive control appears to function primarily as a modest, context-dependent moderator of stress–depression covariation rather than a strong longitudinal driver of change.